A university in the land of Narendra Modi would help Bihar formulate the state’s first building by-laws, a permission granted by chief minister Nitish Kumar himself.

On Wednesday, urban development and housing secretary S. Siddharth made a presentation on Bihar Building By-laws, 2013, in front of Nitish to augment planned real estate growth. “The first building by-laws for Bihar have been prepared after going through the by-laws of various states in the country and incorporating the best practices. It is expected to wipe out the anomalies in the prevailing construction activities in the state,” said Siddharth.

The proposed by-laws have been prepared by Centre for Environment Planning and Technology University (Cept), Ahmedabad, in exercise of the power conferred by sections 321 and 328 of the Bihar Municipal Act, 2007.

Gujarat’s Cept University focuses on understanding, designing, planning, constructing and managing human habitats. It also undertakes advocacy and advisory projects to further the goal of making habitats more livable.

The steps for the enactment of the Bihar Building By-laws were expedited after the urban development and housing department on December 13, 2012, imposed a blanket ban on approval of maps for any multi-storeyed building over the height of 11m till the by-laws come into effect.

“Once the by-laws are given an in-principal approval by the state, we would then upload it on our website www.urban.bih.nic.in and issue public notices in newspapers asking residents to go through it and give their feedback. Thereafter, genuine suggestions would be incorporated in the by-laws and the respective proposal would go to the state cabinet for final approval,” said Siddharth.

The builders are upbeat with the announcement.

“Construction activities seem to have stopped in the city over the past six months since we were waiting for the building by-laws. No new plans are being passed by the Patna Municipal Corporation since they claim it would resume only after the enactment of the by-laws. Even if the chief minister approves the by-laws, it would take at least two more months to enforce it because a considerable amount of time would pass in garnering public response and cabinet sanctions. However, we are hopeful that the by-laws would change the face of the city,” said Sachin Chandra, the chairman of the Builders’ Association of India, Bihar chapter.

At present, construction activities across the state are broadly regulated by the Bihar Municipal Act, 2007, and by-laws of the erstwhile Patna Regional Development Authority (PRDA). After the PRDA was abolished, the municipal act stated that the PRDA by-laws would be in effect till the state government forms new building by-laws. The provisions in the by-laws pertain to land used, land used for construction, floor area ratio, open space, height, number of floors and parking standards.

The proposed by-laws state that the “absolute” height of a building should not exceed 1.5 times the width of the road, abutting the property and the front open spaces. A design review panel is also proposed for issuing certificate of clearance in case of buildings higher than 15m. (See graphic)